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The Price of Parenthood
4 Steps to Financing Fertility
By Laura Christianson
A fertility specialist will advise couples to thoroughly examine their health insurance policy to determine exactly what services are covered. Many health plans cover diagnostic tests, but only about a quarter of them cover most assisted reproductive technology (ART) services such as IVF and GIFT. Those that cover ART services often stipulate a "lifetime" maximum dollar amount or a specific number of procedures.
Joanna and Derek Peterson learned the value of a good insurance policy the hard way. When their insurance policy didn't cover ART treatment, the couple started treatment anyway, intending to pay for it with money they'd recoup from refinancing their house. But the refinance didn't net as much cash as they had assumed it would, and the Petersons were stuck with a huge bill for fertility treatment. Overextended financially, the Petersons foreclosed on their house.
"I got in too much of a hurry," says Joanna Peterson. "[The quest to have a baby] consumed my life. Nothing was more important." Although the treatment resulted in the birth of their daughter, Peterson says, "We should have been more patient and waited until we had the money in our hands."
The Petersons moved to Denver, where Joanna found a job that offers infertility benefits. "Infertility coverage determines where I work, regardless of pay, hours and other benefits," she says. Peterson has also been accepted for an infertility study being conducted by a university hospital. "The study will give me 10 months of free treatment," she says.
Dr. Adamson believes that clinical trials are great ways for couples to finance fertility treatment. "A properly done study benefits patients, because they receive closer monitoring during standard treatment or access to new treatments," he says.
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